LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall dropped a heartbreaking 81-76 double-overtime decision against No. 13 Lebanon Valley on Wednesday afternoon at the Mayser Center. A career-high 31 points from Alexa Barbush was not enough, as the Diplomats fell to 4-6 with the loss, while the Dutchmen improved to 10-2.

F&M stormed out the gate, pulling ahead 16-4 in the opening half. Lebanon Valley chipped away at the lead, putting together an 8-0 run at the end of the first to head into halftime down by three at 31-28. Barbush scored 18 points in the opening stanza on 8-for-10 shooting.

The Diplomats maintained the lead until the 11:37 mark of the second half, when a Dutchmen layup gave Lebanon Valley the 47-45 lead. F&M grabbed the lead back with 8:15 remaining on a jumper by Kristina McCarthy and held it until under a minute remaining in the contest.

With the Diplomats up by 64-62 with 52 seconds on the clock, Caitlin Bach recorded her own rebound off a missed three-point attempt and laid it back in to tie the game for the Dutchmen and send the contest into overtime.

Both teams traded buckets in the first overtime, exchanging the lead on three separate occasions. F&M was down by two with only 18 seconds remaining when Elizabeth Snyder drove to the basket for a layup, tying the game at 71-71 and forcing a second overtime.

Lebanon Valley grabbed the lead at the 4:32 mark with a pair of free throws and held onto the advantage throughout the second-overtime period. The Dutchmen outscored F&M 10-5 in the frame en route to the five-point victory.

McCarthy (15) and Snyder (12) joined Barbush in double-figure scoring. McCarthy was solid on defense as well, pulling down 12 boards, including eight on the defensive end.

Both squads were deadlocked at 28-28 in points in the paint scoring. Lebanon Valley used a balanced effort to pull off the victory, with four players reaching double-figures, while also outscoring the Diplomats' bench 24-3 on the afternoon.

F&M returns to action this Saturday in a Centennial Conference (CC) matchup with Swarthmore. The contest is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.

LEBANON VALLEY 81, FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 76

LEBANON VALLEY (10-2)

Caitlin Bach 7-10 5-6 19; Kiely Chaklos 5-12 6-8 16; Tierney Hiltz 3-10 6-8 14; Lauren Ruhl 3-7 4-4 12; Liz Borgia 3-6 2-2 9; Renee Fritz 3-7 0-0 6; Taylor Umbrell 1-5 1-2 3; Kerri Stolle 1-3 0-0 2; Amanda Donia 0-1 0-0 0; Taylor Gerchak 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 24-30 81.

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (4-6)

Alexa Barbush 13-24 5-6 31; Kristina McCarthy 6-13 3-4 15; Elizabeth Snyderv6-13 0-1 12; Kara Bacile 4-11 0-0 8; Emma Lisle 3-10 1-1 7; Colleen Bott 1-2 0-0 2; Sam Plunkett 0-3 1-2 1; Tracy Hahn 0-0 0-0 0; Hannah Rose Nussbaum 0-1 0-0 0; Leslie Bacile 0-1 0-0 0; Shea Costantino 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-78 10-14 76.

Lebanon Valley................   28   36    7   10  -   81

Franklin & Marshall...........   31   33    7    5  -   76

3-point goals--Lebanon Valley 5-12 (Lauren Ruhl 2-4; Tierney Hiltz 2-4; Liz Borgia 1-1; Taylor Umbrell 0-2; Kiely Chaklos 0-1), Franklin & Marshall 0-8 (; Elizabeth Snyder 0-3; Kara Bacile 0-2; Sam Plunkett 0-2; Hannah Rose Nussbaum 0-1). Fouled out--Lebanon Valley-None, Franklin & Marshall-None.

Rebounds--Lebanon Valley 48 (Caitlin Bach 10), Franklin & Marshall 41 (Kristina McCarthy 12).

Assists--Lebanon Valley 9 (Kiely Chaklos 5), Franklin & Marshall 18 (Alexa Barbush 5).

Total fouls--Lebanon Valley 17, Franklin & Marshall 19.

Technical fouls--Lebanon Valley-None, Franklin &

Marshall-None.

 A-112